The strange case of Yuri Rodonaia

The dramatic events narrated by Yuri Rodonaia

Yuri Rodonaia (1956-2004) held an M.D. and a Ph.D. in neuropathology, and after his NDE (occurred in 1976) he took a Ph.D. in the psychology of religion. At the time of his NDE the twenty-year-old Rodonaia published some articles in Iberia, an underground magazine dealing with issues related to freedom in the city of Tbilisi, Georgia, then part of the Soviet Union, and for this reason he was suspected of dissent activity by the KGB. In 1976, when ready to go to the United States at the invitation of Yale University, he underwent a murder attempt: while he was walking on the sidewalk, a car apparently out of control run over him and, to be sure of having killed him, the driver passed a second time on the body of Yuri already on the ground. Taken to hospital and declared dead after several resuscitation attempts, Yuri was held for three days in a cold store in the morgue, according to routine, before the autopsy could be carried out. In fact, his was a political case, and for this reason autopsy had to be performed by a doctor sent by Moscow.

When the morgue doctor began to proceed with the scalpel and make an incision at the stomach, Yuri's eyes opened. The doctor who performed the autopsy thought it was a conditioned reflex and closed Yuri's eyes, but the episode occurred again. After his eyes were closed a second time, Yuri was able to open them again with an effort: this time the doctor jumped back, noticing that the presumed corpse was shuddering. One of the doctors attending the autopsy was Yuri's uncle. His body was immediately transferred to the intensive care unit, where Rodonaia remained for several months, part of which he spent under a respirator, before being able to recover the functionality of the various damaged organs. Despite being an avowed atheist prior to his NDE, after the experience he devoted himself to the study of spirituality. He then became an ordained priest of the Orthodox Church. In 1989 he emigrated to the United States (where he changed his name from Yuri to George) serving as a pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Texas. The following is Rodonaia's experience in his own words from Phillip Berman's book, The Journey Home. (Source: www.near-death.com).

The consciousness of existing in a different dimension

The first thing I remember about my NDE is that I discovered myself in a realm of total darkness. I had no physical pain, I was still somehow aware of my existence as George, and all about me there was darkness, utter and complete darkness – the greatest darkness ever, darker than any dark, blacker than any black. This was what surrounded me and pressed upon me. I was horrified. I wasn't prepared for this at all. I was shocked to find that I still existed, but I didn't know where I was. The one thought that kept rolling through my mind was, «How can I be when I'm not?». That is what troubled me. Slowly I got a grip on myself and began to think about what had happened, what was going on. But nothing refreshing or relaxing came to me. Why am I in this darkness? What am I to do? Then I remembered Descartes' famous line: I think, therefore I am. And that took a huge burden off me, for it was then I knew for certain I was still alive, although obviously in a very different dimension. Then I thought, If I am, why shouldn't I be positive? That is what came to me. I am George and I'm in darkness, but I know I am. I am what I am. I must not be negative. Then I thought, How can I define what is positive in darkness? Well, positive is light. Then, suddenly, I was in light; bright white, shiny and strong; a very bright light. It was like the flash of a camera, but not flickering – that bright. Constant brightness. At first I found the brilliance of the light painful, I couldn't look directly at it. But little by little I began to relax. I began to feel warm, comforted, and everything suddenly seemed fine.

The next thing that happened was that I saw all these molecules flying around, atoms, protons, neutrons, just flying everywhere. On the one hand, it was totally chaotic, yet what brought me such great joy was that this chaos also had its own symmetry. This symmetry was beautiful and unified and whole, and it flooded me with tremendous joy. I saw the universal form of life and nature laid out before my eyes. It was at this point that any concern I had for my body just slipped away, because it was clear to me that I didn't need it anymore, that it was actually a limitation. Everything in this experience merged together, so it is difficult for me to put an exact sequence to events. Time as I had known it came to a halt; past, present, and future were somehow fused together for me in the timeless unity of life.

A compact review of life

At some point I underwent what has been called the life-review process, for I saw my life from beginning to end all at once. I participated in the real life dramas of my life, almost like a holographic image of my life going on before me – no sense of past, present, or future, just now and the reality of my life. It wasn't as though it started with birth and ran along to my life at the University of Moscow. It all appeared at once. There I was. This was my life. I didn't experience any sense of guilt or remorse for things I'd done. I didn't feel one way or another about my failures, faults, or achievements. All I felt was my life for what it is. And I was content with that. I accepted my life for what it is.

The vital light of the infinite

During this time the light just radiated a sense of peace and joy to me. It was very positive. I was so happy to be in the light. And I understood what the light meant. I learned that all the physical rules for human life were nothing when compared to this unitive reality. I also came to see that a black hole is only another part of that infinity which is light. I came to see that reality is everywhere. That it is not simply the earthly life but the infinite life. Everything is not only connected together, everything is also one. So I felt a wholeness with the light, a sense that all is right with me and the universe. I could be anywhere instantly, really there. I tried to communicate with the people I saw. Some sensed my presence, but no one did anything about it. I felt it necessary to learn about the Bible and philosophy. You want, you receive. Think and it comes to you. So I participated, I went back and lived in the minds of Jesus and his disciples. I heard their conversations, experienced eating, passing wine, smells, tastes – yet I had no body. I was pure consciousness. If I didn't understand what was happening, an explanation would come. But no teacher spoke. I explored the Roman Empire, Babylon, the times of Noah and Abraham. Any era you can name, I went there.

The re-entry into the body

So there I was, flooded with all these good things and this wonderful experience, when someone begins to cut into my stomach. Can you imagine? What had happened was that I was taken to the morgue. I was pronounced dead and left there for three days. An investigation into the cause of my death was set up, so they sent someone out to do an autopsy on me. As they began to cut into my stomach, I felt as though some great power took hold of my neck and pushed me down. And it was so powerful that I opened my eyes and had this huge sense of pain. My body was cold and I began to shiver. They immediately stopped the autopsy and took me to the hospital, where I remained for the following nine months, most of which I spent under a respirator. Slowly I regained my health. But I would never be the same again, because all I wanted to do for the rest of my life was study wisdom. This new interest led me to attend the University of Georgia, where I took my second Ph.D., in the psychology of religion. Then I became a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Eventually, in 1989, we came to America, and I am now working as an associate pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Nederland, Texas.

Answers to some questions

Many people have asked me what I believe in, how my NDE changed my life. All I can say is that I now believe in the God of the universe. Unlike many other people, however, I have never called God the light, because God is beyond our comprehension. God, I believe, is even more than the light, because God is also darkness. God is everything that exists, everything – and that is beyond our ability to comprehend at all. So I don't believe in the God of the Jews, or the Christians, or the Hindus, or in any one religion's idea of what God is or is not. It is all the same God, and that God showed me that the universe in which we live is a beautiful and marvelous mystery that is connected together forever and for always. Anyone who has had such an experience of God, who has felt such a profound sense of connection with reality, knows that there is only one truly significant work to do in life, and that is love; to love nature, to love people, to love animals, to love creation itself, just because it is. To serve God's creation with a warm and loving hand of generosity and compassion – that is the only meaningful existence.

Many people turn to those who have had NDEs because they sense we have the answers. But I know this is not true, at least not entirely. None of us will fully fathom the great truths of life until we finally unite with eternity at death. But occasionally we get glimpses of the answer here on Earth, and that alone is enough for me. I love to ask questions and to seek answers, but I know in the end I must live the questions and the answers. But that is okay, isn't it? So long as we love, love with all our heart and passion, it doesn't matter, does it? Perhaps the best way for me to convey what I am trying to say is to share with you something the poet Rilke once wrote in a letter to a friend. I saw this letter, the original handwritten letter, in the library at Dresden University in Germany. (He quotes from memory, as follows): «Be patient with all that is unresolved in your heart. And try to love the questions themselves. Do not seek for the answers that cannot be given. For you wouldn't be able to live with them. And the point is to live everything, live the questions now, and perhaps without knowing it, you will live along some day into the answers». I place my faith in that. Live the questions, and the universe will open up its eyes to you.

Communication with an infant

In Melvin Morse and Paul Perry's book Transformed by the Light, Rodonaia' experience is described in relation to the communication with an infant that Yuri had during his NDE, when he could go visit his own family. He saw his grieving wife and their two sons, both too small to understand that their father had been killed. Then he visited his next-door neighbor. They had a new child, born a couple of days before Yuri's death. Yuri could tell that they were upset by what had happened to him. But they were especially distressed by the fact that their child would not stop crying. No matter what they did he continued to cry. When he slept it was short and fitful and then he would awaken, crying again. They had taken him back to the doctors but they were stumped. All the usual things such as colic were ruled out and they sent them home hoping the baby would eventually settle down. While there in this disembodied state, Yuri discovered something: «l could talk to the baby. It was amazing. I could not talk to the parents – my friends – but I could talk to the little boy who had just been born. I asked him what was wrong. No words were exchanged, but I asked him maybe through telepathy what was wrong. He told me that his arm hurt. And when he told me that, I was able to see that the bone was twisted and broken». The baby had a greenstick fracture, a break in the bone in his arm probably cause by having been twisted during childbirth. Now Yuri and the baby knew what was wrong, but neither had the ability to communicate the problem to the parents.

A correct diagnosis